Table of Contents

Determining if a plugin is the problem

You can selectively disable plugins while Firefox is running. If you suspect a certain plugin, disable it first, then test for your problem. If you don't know which plugin to disable:

At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox buttonOn the menu bar, click on the Tools menuAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the Tools menu, and then click Add-ons. The Add-ons Manager tab will open.Click the menu button
and choose Add-ons. The Add-ons Manager tab will open.

In the Add-ons Manager tab, select the Plugins panel.

Select a plugin in the list and then click its Disable button. Repeat this step for each plugin in the list, until all of them are disabled. You do not need to restart Firefox for the changes to take effect.

Test for your problem. If it does not occur, go back to the Add-ons Manager tab and re-enable plugins one-by-one with the Enable button until you find which one causes your problem to occur.

At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox buttonOn the menu bar, click on the Tools menuAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the Tools menu, and then click Add-ons. The Add-ons Manager tab will open.Click the menu button
and choose Add-ons. The Add-ons Manager tab will open.

In the Add-ons Manager tab, select the Plugins panel.

Select a plugin in the list and then select Never Activate in its drop-down menu. Repeat this step for each plugin in the list, until all of them are disabled. You do not need to restart Firefox for the changes to take effect.

Test for your problem. If it does not occur, go back to the Add-ons Manager tab and re-enable plugins one-by-one with the Always Activate drop-down menu until you find which one causes your problem to occur.

If you find that disabling a plugin fixes your problem, continue following the steps in this article.

Updating or re-installing your plugins

Many problems with plugins can be solved by updating to the latest version of the plugin. To check if any of your installed plugins are out of date, visit Mozilla's Plugin Check & Updates page.

If updating to the newest version of the plugin or reinstalling it does not fix the problem, you can leave it disabled.

Manually uninstalling a plugin

If you can't use an uninstaller program to remove a plugin, you can remove it manually:

The about:config "This might void your warranty!" warning page may appear. Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue to the about:config page.

Search for the preference: plugin.expose_full_path.

Double-click on the plugin.expose_full_path preference in the list to change the value to true.

Enter about:plugins into the Location bar and press EnterReturn to display the About Plugins page.

Each entry in the About Plugins page will have "File name:" followed by a path. Use Windows Explorer to navigateNavigate to the folder shown for the plugin you want to remove.

Rename the file to add an X in front of the filename (for instance, npswf32 becomes Xnpswf32).

Double-click on the plugin.expose_full_path preference in the list on the about:config page to change the value back to false to avoid exposing the plugin path to websites.

The plugin will be removed.

If you can't use an uninstaller program to remove a plugin, you can remove it manually:

Type about:plugins into the Location bar and press EnterReturn to display the About Plugins page.

Each entry in the About Plugins page will have "File name:" followed by the name of the plugin. You can inspect the contents of the "pluginreg.dat" file (with a text editor) in your Firefox profile folder to find the location for each plugin. Use Windows Explorer to navigateNavigate to the folder shown for the plugin you want to remove.

Rename the file to add an X in front of the filename (for instance, npswf32 becomes Xnpswf32).

The plugin will be removed.

If you can't use an uninstaller program to remove a plugin, you can remove it manually:

Type about:plugins into the Location bar and press EnterReturn to display the About Plugins page.

Each entry in the About Plugins page will have "File:" and "Path:", showing the name and location of the plugin file. Use Windows Explorer to navigateNavigate to the folder shown for the plugin you want to remove.

Rename the file to add an X in front of the filename (for instance, npswf32 becomes Xnpswf32).

The plugin will be removed.

Re-initializing the plugins database

In some cases, you may not be able to install or re-install a plugin. Re-initializing the plugins database may fix this problem:

Open your profile folder:

At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button, go over to the Help menuOn the menu bar, click on the Help menuAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the Help menu and select Troubleshooting Information. The Troubleshooting Information tab will open.Click the menu button
, click help
and select Troubleshooting Information. The Troubleshooting Information tab will open.

Under the Application Basics section, click on Show FolderShow in FinderOpen Directory. A window with your profile filesfolder will open.

At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button and then select ExitAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the File menu and then select ExitOn the menu bar, click on the Firefox menu and select Quit FirefoxAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the File menu and select Quit

Click the menu button
and then click ExitQuit

Delete the pluginreg.dat file.

Open Firefox

In the Location bar type about:plugins and press EnterReturn to bring up the Firefox plugins list.